The drudgeries of life

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Homecoming!

For as long back as I can remember, Christmas time and the holiday season have been all about family time.

Save for the one-off occurrence a couple of years ago, I have always spent this time of the year with my parents and sister. This time is no different! :)

Earlier all four of us used to pack our bags and rush off to Calcutta for a quiet, peaceful and beautiful getaway during Christmas time. But for the past few years, it has been an all home affair - something I like much more than the sojourn at Cal. In those trips to West Bengal's capital city, all we did was go shopping, devour delicacies, attend mass, roam around and relax, all of that in a city which for me always had the tag "It's a neat place to visit but you wouldn't wanna live there." At home, we get to do all of that plus, best of all, feel at home. Sighs :)

Home for me is Fantasia - a name which my dear parents gave to the nest they built on a foundation of love and dreams - yep, as strong as ever! True to the name, our home is a free composition structured according the composers' (my parents, in this case) fancy. Over the years, despite the winds of change and the sands of time, proper planning and relentless efforts have ensured that the foundation of the place has just grown stronger in parallel to the structure expanding like a big heart, where, needless to say, love has thrived and memories have been cemented.

Myself and my kid sister grew up in Fantasia, and no matter where life takes us or what we become, our home will form an integral part of us and whenever we go back there to visit our beloved Dada and Mumma, we'll be back to being kids and will relive the pleasant nostalgia of our childhood days - for us, it will always be Square One.

To reiterate, home for me is Fantasia - it is Dada's warm embrace, proud eyes, easy laugh, and wonderful talks; it is Mumma's cozy lap, beautiful smile, caring hands, excited chatter, and her relentless pampering; it is Sweety's big hugs, reminiscent ponderings, sibling wars, and cute dramebaazis!

Aahhhh! Just 2 more days, and I'll be there to experience it all. Just that, this time round it will be a tad bit extra special for all of us. I've never been so sure of anything else till date.

Life's more or less perfect when you're touching wood almost always :)

I remember an age old wall hanging on the walls of Fantasia which had the caption, "Home is where the heart is." I'm retracing my steps back to my heart pretty soon!! This time round, I'm taking another heart along... :)

Happy Holidays and a Merry Christmas, well in advance!!

Labels: Christmas, Fantasia, Home, Parents, Sister

posted by Smartalec at 3:42 AM 5 comments

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Friday, December 25, 2009

Christmas of 2009

I never ever had imagined that there would be a day when I'd be spending Christmas away from home... it sucks :(

Christmas has always been a cherished festival... growing up listening to tales of Santa Claus (and believing in Him till a certain age); me and Sweety devouring the curl-curls, cakes and the rose cookies *yummy* that Mumma used to so painstakingly prepare; Dada's mastery at decorating the house, putting up the Star, preparing the awesome crib; the early morning Mass; the carols; rushing back home (or to the hotel) and gleefully opening presents; awesome food prepared by Dada and Mumma (or the kati kebabs at Nizam's in Calcutta)... Christmas used to be family time, either at home or at Calcutta!

Oh well! Times change... this Christmas was totally different. A small little Christmas tree that I decorated in my hostel room, midnight mass, walnut cake (nothing compared to Mumma's cakes) with friends, a few carols on Youtube, and that's about it :s Ho ho ho!

Anyway a few snaps of the things that cheered me up a bit :) MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!